1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a candle holder combination of the type in which the candle is supported by water, burning and floating to the surface thereof as it burns, and more particularly to an improved candle and holder combination of the above type capable of self-adjustment independently of the volume of water with which it is used.
2. Background Art
It is known in the prior art to support burning candles of very short axial length either directly on the surface, or above the surface on containers which are capable of floating on the surface, of a body of water, such as a swimming pool for example. However, the useful life of such candles is limited because they must have a very short axial length relative to their cross-sectional dimensions in order to be stable enough to avoid tipping over.
Burning candles of any substantial length could only be floated in relatively small containers of water according to the prior art, where the containers are dimensioned to either restrain the candles against tipping over or to support a guide means capable of restraining the candles against tipping over. Thus, according to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 3,240,035 issued Mar. 15, 1966 to A. S. Anderson, a burning candle of substantial axial length is received with a sliding fit in an open ended cylindrical guide member. The guide member is made of high density material with foraminous walls and one end thereof is supported on the bottom of a container of water with the other end thereof at the surface of the water in the container.
However, the volume of the container is limited, by practical considerations, to a volume which is a small multiple of the volume of the candle. Thus, as the candle burns reducing the volume of the candle in the water, the water level in the container will drop below the upper end of the guide member. Since the burning end of the candle is only slightly above the water level, the flame of the candle will tend to be received within the guide member as the candle is consumed so that it will either be extinguished or the light thereof obstructed by the guide member.
Thus, it was found necessary very early in the prior art to provide a separate reservoir of water and means for conducting water therefrom to the container on demand in order to compensate for the decreasing volume of the candle as it burns. U.S. Pat. No. 416,418, issued to Nessle in 1889 and U.S. Pat. No. 663,833, issued to MacIvy in 1900 are representative of this teaching of the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 766,156, issued to Schifferle in 1904 teaches a different means of compensating for the loss of volume of the candle as it burns while supported by water in a container of limited volume. According to Schifferle, a float having lower density than the candle is submerged in the water beneath the candle and a stop is provided at the upper end of the container so that the candle is captured between the float and the stop. Thus, substantially all of the buoyancy in the system may be provided by the float and in a container of limited volume the float can be maintained in a substantially submerged condition by the stop at the upper end of the container as the volume of the candle is consumed.